Id love Jim Mallinder and Dorian West to come but theres noway on gods earth are they leaving Saints
The offy said a few weeks ago Davis would be staying on next season why would they change that around??
If they let Davis go they somebody needs to go to farleigh or the rec armed with a firearm of some discription and blast the person/people responable for letting Davis leave!
Im not a fan of Mike Ford and dont want him at the club nor John Wells

Well I feel so strongly about it that if he comes to Bath I will consider not renewing the two season tickets I've had for the last 12 years.I would hope the club would show a little more ambition than someone who,I'll finish there before I say to much and get bamnned.

Is Gold top drawer? Is he really the best kiddie on the block? IMHO NO! has to be Mallet of those available and then a damned good attack coach who does that for Aussie as they can attack very well and use very little good quality clean ball- like us with our powder puff pack!

We should be concentrating upon a Top class forward coach and someone who can really motivate the pack to go the extra mile! I have always liked John Mitchell but he may be a bit old or go for a rising star and ex Bath man like Humphries or Webster or even Dorian West. He has certainly got Saints going forward!

Also we must recruit big nasty second row above all other requirements as without the ball, we will not winn anything!!!

BoB, who the hell was Steve Meehan when we recruited him? Noone had ever heard of him. Gold may well be a stroke of genius, and has revitalised a demoralised and pretty ordinay Newcs pack and at least given them a chance, albeit a faint one.

I've long said that any new coach should be allowed to choose his own team to work with. If Gold is the man and he wants Ford, bring him on. If Brad is surplus to requirements, sadly he'll have to go.

While folks seem to like Gold, he hardly comes with an impeccable pedigree of success.

His last stint in the Premiership with Irish Ended with them avoiding relegation by a whisker. Here's what one Irish fan had to say about him:

Quote:

Now from what I can remember from his tenure at LI was that we were playing a particularly drab style under Gold. I can recall a 20-20 scoreline in the wet with Falcons at the MadStad that left me leaving the stadium wondering if it was the most boring game of rugby that I will ever witness.

While he's kicked Newcastle up the @#$%& a bit, it looks like he's failed in his set objective, of keeping them up.

And while Assistant Coach for South Africa he's overseen some of their worst results in years - last year's TriNations saw them finish bottom with just one win.

Can someone help me get excited by the idea of Gold, because I'm struggling here...

On the positive side Stuart he was the architect of that Falcons v Quins bashfest recently so he can certainly put some dog into a team.

On the downside he was the architect of that Falcons v Quins bashfest....

Like you I'm a bit underwhelmed. I commented a while back that my main beef with the recent set up at Bath was it lacked innovation and we seemed to be attempting to recycle others success rather than building our own - this seems more of the same. If he comes with Ford stuck to his hip I'm even less impressed.

That said whatever is coming is almost certainly signed off and waiting to be announced so we shall have to wait and see what we get, and whether when we are a few games into next season, whether they live up to preconceptions or bring something new.

I'm with stu and dave. I don't know anything about Gold that excites me.

SM came in as attack coach from a reasonably sucessful stint at SF (or some other big french club) as I recall? It was only when we were left in the lurch that he stepped up to head coach and I've got to be honest, I don't think he was the complete package as a head coach. I'm not sure the arguement that X wasn't known when he came here and he worked out ok so another unknown will prove equally successful. On that basis I'll give it a shot.

Newcastle were dire when I saw them the first game of the season and made us look good. In fact angry as the Newcastle game gave me great hope for the season ahead.

I too know little about Gold. What I do know is that a few months ago Newcastle were adrift from the rest of the clubs, lacked motivation, ability, game plan and were expected to have been relegated by March. How many of us in January were counting the points gap between us and Newcastle because I was after every match. Then Gold arrives and they now look like a team who have fire in their bellies and who are going to High Wycombe...oops sorry Wasps fan I meant London (er not) with the belief that they can get a bonus point win. If they do...he will get my vote for coach of the season...in fact coach of any season. No it probably wont happen but Gold has Newcastle believing....believing in miracles. Well I haven't seen too many of us "believing" this year

Who ever we get deserves our support and needs to understand how passionate the fan base of Bath is. Whoever is the coach also needs to rely on our support as he tries to get to grips with Mission Impossible...which is to keep all of us happy and for good measure win the 2012/2013 Premiership final at Twickenham!

BTW just saw the end of a great game at the Rec involving The Bath and Bristol U20 combination. There is a wealth of local talent and it would be great to see more of us at these local matches...mind it was chucking it down with rain

I am not enthused at all by the thought of Gold (and Ford - esp if that means there is no role for BD). I have a horrible niggly feeling that we may not be such an attractive proposition as we would like to think to top coaches, or of course ambitious and as yet unproven ones.
We'll see no doubt in a few weeks, well before we have to make up our minds about next season and an investment in a ST.

Francois Louw
Proud to be wearing the BB&W and feared by all who play in the English Prem!

I like the thought of Gold,he I believe is what are team need for next season,we don't need Ford,we need a attack coach,we've looked like we haven't got a clue going forward.
We need a scrum coach if Golds not doing it.

I dont want to appear negative but I just do not get the Ford bit...we have BD and he is a top, well respected and liked coach by a number of the players and fans alike...bottom line BD does a good job

Gold....No idea. But if he gives us the belief he has given Newcastle recently...that will be a start.

At the Sale game, they were selling resevations for their season tickets for the new Salford city Stadium. Just a question...why do we have to wait until the end of the summer to buy our season tickets and then only receive them days before the first home game? Maybe they know that they have upset too many like Annie and let us calm down before renewing!!!!! Ive already promised the kids again next year but just pleased that we probably WILL NOT HAVE TO GO TO NEWCASTLE....That was blind mad loyalty....never again!

Fairshout - the usual late hiatus over ST renewals is normally down to waiting on planning permission etc for the extra area used by the current larger east stand. I think (could be wrong) that we now have planning permission for it for a couple of seasons - however if the ChC determines that the land swap is not a viable way forward, and that the rec issue is effectively deadlocked then the Trustees of the Rec would have to deny us permission to use the bigger area.

In short they can't sell ST's for the East Stand until they know how big its going to be!

From what sky were saying last night somebody interviewed Michael Chieka and he said he wanted to make Stade Francais into a team like Leinster where they basically win comps season after season
If hes planning on doing that then hes not going to be coming to Bath

Unless someone persuades him he'd be better able to achieve that in Bath. Might be easier to battle Leister and Sarries than Toulouse and Toulon. Stade and Bath are both 7th in their leagues, so it's not like he's got a head start there.

I would hope (and expect) that whoever comes doesn't think that a boilerplate system will work, but will look at the players available and build attack and defence systems based on them.

Gold came to a Newcastle team that were leaving the Premiership with a whimper. He's made them harder to beat, and they've at least made it to the last game not relegated (albeit that's left them needing to get a bonus point win with a team and a system that doesn't score tries). In the situation, however, was there another option he could have tried?

If Gold comes and brings Ford, I don't really see the point in keeping Brad. Don't get me wrong, he's the one coach who I actually like, but there is benefit in having a completely fresh approach and Ford and Brad are too similar. Or do we convert Brad to an attack coach?

Agree with most that Brad is the one bright thing in an otherwise dull season...

I just hope that the powers to be, get to grips with the Head Coach and DOR roles and requirement and that we have have something good to look forward to next season...and yes and the best scrum & forwards coach in the world will do nicely!

The whole thing is turning into a complete farse somebody should have been appointed ages ago recruitment should have been nearly finished but No!!
But even thinking of losing or letting go Davis is a complete joke if it wasnt for him we'd have been leaking tries left right and centre in games we've lost

At the Sale game, they were selling resevations for their season tickets for the new Salford city Stadium. Just a question...why do we have to wait until the end of the summer to buy our season tickets and then only receive them days before the first home game?

[quote TCM2007]While folks seem to like Gold, he hardly comes with an impeccable pedigree of success.

His last stint in the Premiership with Irish Ended with them avoiding relegation by a whisker. Here's what one Irish fan had to say about him:

[quote]
Can someone help me get excited by the idea of Gold, because I'm struggling here...[/quote]

Indeed Stu,it does seem a bit like that - but he doesn't come with the baggage of the previous incumbent so IF he's the boyo I guess we should cut him some slack.
The important component will be the choice of attack coach.
We can scrumage and defend all day - it's the crossing of the whitewash that gets my pulse pumping!

Then maybe Mark and co in the ticket office wouldnt have a mad mad rush to get thousands of tickets out in such a short time span...as a reservation data base a la Sale Sharks, might just assist, especially as the Club are always waiting on tender hooks for the licence of the stand to be issued....normally late!

Also those who are thinking about buying an other season ticket for one of the kids, would know in May June July or even early August if there was a spare seat near by due to someone giving definitely not renewing

Each morning as he arrives for Leinster training, Isa Nacewa shakes the hand of every team-mate. It is not just a quirk of the Aucklander. All the players do it. It is a little ritual introduced by Joe Schmidt, the coach, who brought the practice with him when he moved to Leinster from tomorrow’s semi-final opponents, Clermont Auvergne, two years ago. He has yet to insist on cheek-kissing.
“It’s a good way to start the day, a little courtesy, a chance to acknowledge your team-mate," said Nacewa, the dashing, ringlet-haired runner who has been a mainstay of the side since his arrival in 2008. “Squads are so big these days that you could go the whole day without saying a word to some players."
The morning interaction is not the only innovation that Schmidt has introduced since taking over from Michael Cheika in September 2010. Leinster, who won the Heineken Cup in his first season in a dramatic final against Northampton, have lost only one Heineken Cup tie since he took over, a 20-13 reverse against his former club last season.
Nacewa knows the coach from his own days as a youngster in Auckland. He had reservations when he heard that Schmidt, who was working as Vern Cotter’s assistant at Clermont, had been appointed head coach, wondering if he had the character and presence to crack the whip on a squad of established international players.
He need not have worried. “Joe created a strong culture straight away, made sure that everyone knew who was boss," Nacewa said. “It showed most in his Monday morning review sessions when he would pick up on every little thing.
“You might have thought you had a good game. Well, you might until Joe got to work on you. Those Monday sessions can be scary. There’s no hiding place. Other coaches might brush things under the carpet. Not Joe."

Be interesting to know who spoke to the journo, and his role. Otherwise it can just be reported 'kitchen gossip' or PR again. Sounds a good habit to get into though - I expect other teams have similar bonding rituals. Leicester, allegedly, have a mutual bonding handbags at every training session!

Francois Louw
Proud to be wearing the BB&W and feared by all who play in the English Prem!

Foles used to do this a lot when he was with us. Good show of respect for your team mates I think and a handshake is often used before and after to business meetings. I guess it can mentally tell you it's time to switch on for the office (training pitch) and business and you aren't just there to chew the fat with your mates. Then again it might not mean anything lol!!!

The pity from New Zealand's point of view is that, right now it is highly unlikely he would be available.

So if his home country can't get him I wouldn't fancy Bath's chances.

Whoever the coaches are going to be, top notch or up and coming, it's going to be a bit of a gamble. It will be a new environment and set of players for them to bed in to my only hope is that the pessimists give them a chance.

To the Ulster Academy to do what he does best, looking after the young uns. He's not perfect, not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and there seems to be an accepted train of thought amongst many that Humphreys the elder is responsible for much of the upturn in results. Better than SIM though...

Also there's the small issue of luring him away from N.Ireland, he's been over here for ages and the chatter was that he'd just return to teaching were he not to find another local rugby role.

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